14.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
15.  The first applicant is Mrs Tatjana Slivenko, born in 1959. The second applicant is her daughter, Ms Karina Slivenko, born in 1981.
16.  The applicants are of Russian origin. The first applicant was born in Estonia into the family of a military officer of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). At the age of one month she moved to Latvia together with her parents. Her husband, Nikolay Slivenko, born in 1952, was transferred to Latvia in 1977 to serve as a Soviet military officer. He met the first applicant in Latvia and married her there in 1980. In 1981 the first applicant gave birth to their daughter, the second applicant. The first applicant's father retired from the army in 1986.
17.  Latvia regained independence from the USSR in 1991. On 28 January 1992 the Russian Federation assumed jurisdiction over the former Soviet armed forces, including those stationed in the territory of Latvia.
18.  On 4 March 1993 the applicants and the first applicant's parents were entered in the register of Latvian residents (“the register”) as “ex-USSR citizens” (see paragraphs 50-56 below). At that time, none of them were citizens of any particular State. In her request to be entered in the register, the first applicant had not indicated that her husband was a Russian military officer.
19.  The respondent Government state that, in requesting her entry in the register, the first applicant submitted false information about the occupation of Nikolay Slivenko, stating that he worked at a factory. The respondent Government have submitted a copy of an annex to the first applicant's application for residence in Latvia, including the statement that her husband worked at a factory.
20.  The applicants and the third party submit that the document is falsified, and that it does not exist. They also refer to the fact that, during the subsequent proceedings concerning the legality of their stay in Latvia (see paragraphs 34-39 below), the immigration authorities did not refer to any such false information, and the Latvian courts did not establish that the applicants had at any point submitted the information mentioned by the respondent Government.
21.  Nikolay Slivenko, who had become a Russian citizen on an unspecified date in the early 1990s, continued his service in the Russian army until his discharge in 1994 on the ground of the abolition of his post. The parties disagree as to the actual date of his discharge: the applicants state that he was discharged on 2 March 1994. They rely on the fact that an order for his discharge was signed and became effective on 2 March 1994. The Russian Government support this conclusion. The respondent Government argue that the first applicant's husband was discharged on 5 June 1994 as it was only on that date that he formally completed his leave; his leave allowance and retirement benefits had been calculated with reference to that date.
22.  The treaty between Latvia and Russia on the withdrawal of the Russian troops (“the treaty”) was signed in Moscow on 30 April 1994 and became effective on that date (see paragraphs 64-67 below).
23.  According to the respondent Government, even before the signature and entry into force of the treaty, various Latvian and Russian authorities cooperated in establishing the names of the Russian military personnel liable to be removed from Latvia. In this context, on 31 March 1994, the Russian military authorities submitted to the Latvian authorities a list of the Russian military officers in Latvia, including the first applicant's husband, with an accompanying request to prolong his and his family's temporary residence in Latvia. This, the respondent Government contend, made it clear that their stay in Latvia was temporary, and that they would be required to leave.
24.  According to the applicants and the Russian Government, the list of 31 March 1994 did not entail any obligation on Nikolay Slivenko to leave Latvia as it was a document solely requesting the prolongation of his temporary stay in Latvia, submitted before the actual signature and entry into force of the treaty.
25.  On 7 October 1994 Nikolay Slivenko applied to the Latvian Citizenship and Migration Authority (“the CMA”) for a temporary residence permit in Latvia by reason, inter alia, of his marriage to the first applicant, a permanent resident of Latvia. This was refused on the ground that, as a Russian military officer, he was required to leave Latvia as a result of the withdrawal of the Russian troops in accordance with the treaty.
26.  On 29 November 1994 the CMA annulled the applicants' entry in the register on the ground of Nikolay Slivenko's military status. The applicants state that they were not informed about the decision, and that they found out about it only in 1996, in the context of the court proceedings brought by the first applicant's husband (see paragraph 29 below).
27.  The respondent Government have also produced a list dated 10 December 1994, which according to them had been submitted to the Latvian authorities by the Russian armed forces. In the list Nikolay Slivenko was included in the category of military personnel who had retired after 28 January 1992. The applicants and the third party contest the authenticity of the list.
28.  The respondent Government have further produced a list dated 16 October 1995, which according to them had been sent to the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Russian consulate in Riga. According to the respondent Government, Nikolay Slivenko's name appeared on the list among those Russian military pensioners who had been discharged from the Russian armed forces after 28 January 1992. It was also noted in the list that on 3 August 1994 Nikolay Slivenko had been given housing in the city of Kursk in Russia, and that he had left Latvia on 31 December 1994. The applicants and the third party contest the authenticity of the list.
29.  In point of fact, however, the first applicant's husband had stayed in Latvia. He brought a court action against the CMA, claiming that their refusal to issue him with a temporary residence permit was void. On 2 January 1996 the Riga City Vidzeme District Court found in his favour. The CMA appealed against the judgment.
30.  On 19 June 1996 the Riga Regional Court allowed the CMA's appeal, finding, inter alia, that Nikolay Slivenko had been a Russian military officer until 5 June 1994 and that the treaty of 30 April 1994 required all Russian officers in service on 28 January 1992 to leave Latvia together with their families. The Regional Court referred, inter alia, to the list of 16 October 1995, which confirmed that he had been provided with accommodation in Kursk, and that he had left Latvia in 1994. He did not bring a cassation appeal against the appellate judgment.
31.  On 20 August 1996 the immigration authorities issued a deportation order in respect of the applicants. The order was served on them on 22 August 1996.
32.  On that date the local authorities decided to evict the applicants from their flat, which they rented from the Latvian Ministry of Defence. Russian military officers and their families as well as other residents of Latvia lived in the block where the flat was located. The eviction order was not enforced.
33.  On an unspecified date in 1996 Nikolay Slivenko moved to Russia, while the applicants remained in Latvia.
34.  The first applicant brought a court action in her own name and on behalf of her daughter, claiming that they were in fact permanent residents of Latvia and that they could not be removed from the country.
35.  On 19 February 1997 the Riga City Vidzeme District Court found in favour of the applicants. The court held, inter alia, that the first applicant had come to Latvia as a relative of her father, not her husband. As her father had retired in 1986, he could thereafter no longer be regarded as a military officer, and his close relatives, including the applicants, could be entered in the register as permanent residents of Latvia. The court quashed the deportation order in respect of the applicants and authorised their re-entry in the register.
36.  The CMA appealed against the judgment of 19 February 1997. On 30 October 1997 the Riga Regional Court dismissed the appeal, finding that the first-instance court had decided the case properly. Upon a cassation appeal by the CMA, on 7 January 1998 the Supreme Court quashed the decisions of the lower courts and remitted the case to the appellate court for a fresh examination. The Supreme Court referred to the fact that the applicants had been provided with a flat in Kursk, and that they were subject to the provisions of the treaty of 30 April 1994.
37.  On 6 May 1998 the Riga Regional Court allowed the CMA's appeal, finding that Nikolay Slivenko had been a serving Russian military officer until 5 June 1994. Referring to the fact that he had been given housing in Kursk in 1994 following his retirement from the Russian military, the court decided that he had been required to leave Latvia with his family in accordance with the treaty. The court found that the decision of the immigration authorities to annul the applicants' entry in the register had been lawful.
38.  On 12 June 1998 the first applicant was informed by the immigration authorities that the deportation order of 20 August 1996 had become effective upon the delivery of the appellate court's judgment of 6 May 1998.
39.  On 29 July 1998, on a cassation appeal by the applicants, the Supreme Court confirmed the decision of 6 May 1998. The Supreme Court stated that Nikolay Slivenko had been discharged from the Russian armed forces on 5 June 1994. The Supreme Court noted that the applicants had been allocated the flat in Kursk in the context of the material assistance provided by the United States of America for the withdrawal of Russian troops. Relying on the fact that Nikolay Slivenko had been discharged from the military after 28 January 1992, the Supreme Court concluded that the applicants, as part of his family, had also been required to leave Latvia in accordance with the treaty.
40.  On 14 September 1998 the first applicant requested the CMA to defer execution of the deportation order. That was refused on 22 September 1998.
41.  On 7 October 1998 the first applicant lodged with the immigration authorities an appeal against the deportation order, requesting a residence permit and her re-entry in the register. She stated, inter alia, that Latvia was her and her daughter's motherland as they had lived there all their lives and had no other citizenship, and that she was required to take care of her disabled parents who were permanently resident in Latvia.
42.  In the late evening of 28 October 1998 the police entered the applicants' flat. They were arrested at 10.30 p.m. on the same date. On 29 October 1998, at 12.30 a.m., a police officer issued an arrest warrant in respect of the applicants on the basis of section 48-5 of the Aliens Act. The warrant stated that the applicants had no valid documents justifying their stay in Latvia, and that the applicants' entry in the register of Latvian residents had been annulled by the Supreme Court's final judgment of 29 July 1998. It was also mentioned in the warrant that the applicants “did not leave Latvia following the judgment, and there were reasonable grounds to suspect that they were staying in Latvia illegally”. The warrant was signed by the applicants. On the basis of the warrant the applicants were immediately detained in a centre for illegal immigrants.
43.  Also on 29 October 1998 the Director of the CMA sent a letter to the immigration police, stating that the applicants' arrest had been “premature” in view of the fact that the first applicant had lodged an appeal on 7 October 1998. No reference to domestic law was made in the letter. The Director of the CMA ordered the immigration police to release the applicants. They were released at an unspecified time on 29 October 1998.
44.  On 3 February 1999 the applicants received a letter from the Director of the CMA dated 29 October 1998, informing them that they were required to leave Latvia immediately. They were also informed that, if they complied voluntarily with the deportation order, they could thereafter be issued with a visa enabling them to stay in the country for ninety days per annum.
45.  On 16 March 1999 the flat of the first applicant's parents was searched by the police in the presence of the second applicant. On the same date, at 9 a.m., a police officer issued a warrant for the second applicant's arrest on the basis of section 48-5 of the Aliens Act. The warrant stated that the second applicant had no valid document justifying her stay in Latvia, and that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that she was staying in Latvia illegally. The order was signed by the second applicant. She was immediately arrested and thereafter detained for thirty hours in a centre for illegal immigrants. She was released on 17 March 1999.
46.  On 11 July 1999 the applicants moved to Russia to join Nikolay Slivenko. By that time the second applicant had completed her secondary education in Latvia. On an unspecified date in 2001 the applicants adopted Russian citizenship as former nationals of the USSR. The applicants now live in Kursk, in accommodation which was provided by the Russian defence authorities. After the applicants left Latvia, their flat in Riga was taken back by the Latvian authorities. Meanwhile, the first applicant's parents continued living in Latvia on the basis of their status as “ex-USSR citizens”.
47.  According to the applicants, the first applicant's parents are seriously ill, but the applicants have not been able to go to Latvia to visit them. The deportation order of 20 August 1996 prohibited the applicants from entering Latvia for five years. That prohibition expired on 20 August 2001. Towards the end of 2001 the applicants obtained visas permitting their stay in Latvia for no more than ninety days per annum.
48.  In view of the fact that Nikolay Slivenko had left Latvia voluntarily, the prohibition on entering Latvia was not extended to him. He was allowed to visit Latvia several times in the period between 1996 and 2001.